OPERATION JEDBURGH: D~Day And America's First Shadow War

black grey hardcover 8vo. (octavo). dustwrapper in protective brodart book jacket cover. fine cond. binding square & tight. covers have a few faint smudges. edges clean. contents free of markings. dustwrapper in fine cond. not worn or torn or price clipped. nice clean copy. no library markings, store stamps, stickers, bookplates, no names, inking, underlining, remainder markings etc~. first edition so stated (FPu2006). first printing (#1 in # line. ~ xxviii+401p. 7 b&w maps. appendix. notes. sources. permissions. index. world war ii. covert operations. espionage. military history.~"They were cloaked in shadow, mystery, and a touch of glamour, the Jedburghs, the most intensely secret warriors of World War II. Colin Beavan has finally lifted the curtain on their story through relentless historical sleuthing in a book that is also a tribute to his grandfather, the architect~in~chief of this true~life spy thriller operation." ~Joseph E. Persico, author of 11th Month, 11th Day, 11th Hour: Armistice Day, 1918. In 1943, less than a year before the Allies hoped to land on the Normandy coast, the shadow warfare chiefs recognized a crucial gap in their plan. The Gestapo was rapidly arresting their agents in the secret Resistance networks in France, just when those networks would be needed the most, to make hell for the Germans as the Allies finally attacked. Their strategy was in peril. The solution: Operation Jedburgh, one of the most hazardous covert operations of World War II. In the run~up to D~Day, three hundred young American, British, and French soldiers~volunteers all~ were dropped deep behind enemy lines in France. Working with the beleaguered French Resistance, the "Jeds" launched a deft and stunningly effective guerrilla campaign against the underbelly of the German war machine. Colin Beavan,whose grandfather helped direct Operation Jedburgh for the OSS, draws on scores of interviews with the surviving Jeds and their families to tell the incredible story of the rowdy daredevils and thrill seekers who carried out America's first special~forces missions~and changed the way Americans waged war forever. Dodging Gestapo spies, living hand to mouth in the devastated French countryside, the Jeds helped arm and train fighters who liberated Paris, snarled German transport across France, and provided essential cover for the invading Allied forces. The young Jeds had to be reckless to take on such a mission, but their courage never flagged as they leaped from airplanes into the night, knowing they might well be meeting capture, torture, and a painful death. For decades, few of those who survived would speak to their families of anything they had seen or done as Jeds in France. This was the birth of the type of behind~the~lines special operations that peppered American history for the next fifty years. The key figures Beavan focuses on include one who would go on to become a CIA director (William Colby), one who founded the Green Berets (Aaron Bank), and one who became embroiled in the Iran~Contra affair (John Singlaub)~all of whom had their first lessons in covert warfare as Jedburghs. At once a restored chapter in the history of World War II, a book that reads like a wartime thriller, and a tribute to three hundred brave, long~silent men, Operation Jedburgh makes a major contribution to our understanding of American warfare. …